Cleaning and air-conditioning apparatus



A. o. ENGBERG E! AL 1,757,239 CLEANING AND AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed June 15, 1926 s Shets-Sheet 2 U n g 3i Q Q Y w 6 i; E z Q I '1 w T g a P Q. E v [k] kg I '1 I t\ Z .L\ Q LT] i- Q s Q N Q Q i Q R /l g n ,g Q g .ll 5 q n R V I Y I VEN 0R8 x 1; h l I l I N m N :1 I I a: kl fidATT RNEY y 1930- A. 0 ENGBERGEI' AL l,757;239 v CLEANING AND AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed June 15. 1926 s Sheets-Sheet s I uvws ICE Q flu'ATTORNEY Patented -May 6, 1930 UNITED "STATES PAT-VENT? oFrlcE AXE-L o'Lormennne m 1mm cms'rnnr, Ola-"ammonia, SWEDEN, 118-. srenons 'ro mv'nn'rra rn'rm-vnnwunrunes-ensnnnscnnrr, or. sonar-'- EA'D'SEN, SWITZERLAND, A conronlnrron or swrrzmnm I 1 I I creature in nm-conmriome arrm'rus Application med June 15,1926; Serial No. 110,123, and 111- Sweden December-:16,- 1995. Our invention relates to cleaners of the type ion line 5-5, Fig. 4 Fig. 6 shows a pin norwherein a current of air is employed. More mally arranged at one end of the strap; Fig.

particularly our invention relates to cleaners/,7 shows a spring member also forming part of the type generally known as vacuum clean- 5 ers. Our cleaner is, however, not alone a vacuum cleaner, that is one WhlGh induces the air Containing the dust and dirt, but is also a blower by means of which a forced current of air One object of our invention is to produce a cleaner unit which can easilybe converted from-a vacuum cleaner to a suitable blower:-

Other objects of our invention are: to pro- I vide a neat, compact, easily portable, cleaner,

easy to manipulate and yet powerfulin cleaning efiect; to provide a combined hose couf pling and insulator adaptedto facilitate transformance of the cleaner from evacuating to blowingoperation as above stated; to provide means for obtainin eflicient flow. of air both during suction an blowing action and to provide such means without sacrificconvenience in use. l urther objects and theinature of our in-v vent-ion will be apparent as the description proceeds- The description -is of one preferred form'but it Zis'to be understood that it is' not intended that the invention be limited to the form described. 7 w v Referring to the-accompanyingdra'wings which illustrate the preferred form of our cleaner: .Fig. 1 is a side" view of the main unit of t he cleanerlshowing the same assem "i bled, this main unitcont'a' the fan, mo-

tor and dust bag and adapted or connection with an air hose or similar-conductor-of air 7 through which the air passesand to which .so-called main unit; ig. 3 is 'a section on line .3-3 of Fig. 1, with internal parts of the unit omitted; is partly aplan view .and partly a: sectional view of a strap for carrying the main unit; Fig. is a section I can be projected against a place to'be. 10 cleane a cleaning nozzle pr mouthpiece may attached; Fig. is a lon 'tudinal section of the of the strap fi rangement; and Fig. 8 shows the cleaner in operation.

The mainunit of the cleaner, shown in side view in'Fig. 1 and section in Fig. 2,

comprises a casing, in turn comprising a main cylindrical barrel 10 consisting of stiflf material such as thin sheet metal surrounded by fibrous material or leather comdposition' having attached: thereto at one en a metal bell '11, and, at the other end, a metal housing 12.

Housing 12 contains the electric motor 13 and the fan 14. Forward of housing 12, that is, in'direction toward bell 11, is a disinfecting airffilter 15 and forward of the filter 15 is the dust bag 16. The forward end of the dust bag consists of a flanged metal rin 17,

around the flange of which is lacedTa ru ber washer 18. The fl e-of ring 17, and the rubber washer 18 arec amped between bell 11 and the flange 19 of a circular ring 20- at-- tachedtothe forward ,end of the main barrel .by means of rivets 21 and forming part of the main barrel.

A central coupling'l23 isscrew threaded Y.- tral openings-8 in hell 11 by means of L 24 and lidslacentral'tapered passageway 25 into which, in'normal operatlon,

26 is ammed, which air hose leads to the 15 the tapered endof a flexible metal air hose pling 23 is readily removable from bell'11 by? P p the form 0 ribs 2? to provide an easy mere of the hand and for this pur passes through passageway 25 from. tube 26 and mouthpiece 22 and into dust bag16 thef dust bag, passes thrdu'gh the filter-:15,

In normal operationair containmg dust.

ed with a roughened surface phere through opening 28 at the rear end of housing 12. Opening 8 may be considered as "sleeve.

the air inlet and opening 28- as the air outlet for the unit. I

Thedust bag, of which the main portion is preferably made of-cloth, is attached to ring 17 in any desired manner. The dust bag can be removed from the barrel, to expel the dust collected within thesame, by first unclamping and removing bell 11, after which thedust bag is drawn forward through the forward end opening of the barrel formed -by ring 20. As preferred means for clamping bell 11 to the I nain barrel there are used a series of spring clamps 29 which comprise a lever 30 pivoted to a bracket 30 which is fastened to the barrel, a hook 31, a bolt 32, a sleeve 33 and a spring 36 extendingbetween the; head of the bolt and an abutment on the The sleeve is pivoted at 34. The hook 31 rests on a shoulder 35- on bell 11. Bell 11 is unclamped by pulling lever 30 away from the barrel, whereby-the spring 36 is released and the hook 31 can be removed from theshoulder 35 on bell 11.

The filter 15 comprises a filter pad 37 which consists of cloth impregnated with a suitable disinfectant. This filter ad is clamped between two metal disks 38 b means of parts 39 48 and 40 of which part 40 is secured to one disk and part 39 can be turned by hand to register with a hole in the other disk in one position and overlap the disk in another position. It will be noted that the motor and fan are enclosedin one unitary structure, namely housing 12. One purpose of thus forming one unitary structure including the revolvingparts is to obtain a unit which can be made separately from other parts of the cleaner and can'be set up and inspected of itself. Furthermore this arrangement permits making the remaining parts such as the main barrel of light material and is of advantage because if in transportation oratany other time the main barrel should become injured the unitary motor-fan structure can be removed and a new barrel readily attached.

In order that the 1notor-fan unit may be readily detached from the barrel it is secured to the barrel by means of screws 41 which are accessible and removable from outside the main cleaner unit as a whole.v A ring 42 is fastened to the rear end of the main barrel by means of rivets 43. The motor-fan housing 12 is machined to fit within 'ng 42 and the barrel. The screws 41 pass t rough ring 42?? cm'ved i as 13 mm 1 P n g through thebarrel, and thread into the motor- Upon the o passes maaaea tive, without interference with electric'connections nor mountings. nor mouthpiece connect-1ons,, and without any mechamcal dismantling, nor necessitating the services of a mechanic; v Furthermore, the formation of-asingle fan is advantageous in standardization of manufacture because this motor-fan unit contains all the parts which r'e'quirecareful machine work. 'It is therefore possible to de- .unitary structure enclosing the motor and vote one portion of a plant to the manufac-' ture of this unit and to devote a separate portion of the plant or even a difierent plant Housing 12 is made of two parts 12 and 12.

which may be secured in any desired manner,

but "preferably so that they may be readily separated.

The motor and fan are mounted upon a" common rotatable shaft 44. Shaft44 is mounted in bearings 45 and 46. Bearing 45 is supported from-the niainhousing 12 by means-of struts 47. Bearing '46. is supported from the main housing 12 by means of struts Plug 49, to which a cord adaptable of at. tachment to an electric circuit is attached, fits into a socket 50 which is secured in an opening in the housing'12 and so arranged that plug 49 is situated in a recess 51. The purpose of the recess is to protect the plug 49 and to give a; smooth,"more or less stream line contour to the main unit of the cleaner asa whole, thus preventing possibility of-i n' jury to parts and affording a neat'appearance, Electric connections extend between socket 50 and the motor 13 in known manner. In the electric circuit is a switch 52.,which serves to make or break the circuit. This switch 52 is also arranged with "a view to obtaining a smooth contour of the cleaner and. i

to'prevent injury to parts. The switch is. set into the housing 12 in a well 53in such a manner that only a small part 54 extends outside thehousing which part is adapted to .be moved by hand or footto make or break the motor circuit,

Fan 14 is a two stagicentrifugal fan comprising two rotatable wheels 55 and 56 andintermediate diaphrag s '57 and 58. Each wheel comprises two Zdi'sks' between which non-conducting material, pre erably ebonite;

I and second, it serves to make the cleaner reversible and transform the same from a vacuum cleaner into ablower. The reason for making coupling 23 of non-conductin material is that it might happen that parts ecome short .circuited and this member serves to prevent a shock to the person operating the cleaner. For the second purpose mentioned,

namely, to transformthevacuum cleaner intoa blower, the rear opening. 28 in housing 12 is made of the same size and with the same in bell -11 inwhich coupling 23 is shown as V numberof threads per inch as the opening inserted.

If it is desired to use-the cleaner to blow air, coupling 23 is removed from the opening 8 in bell 11 and screwed into opening" 28. Hose 26 may then be fitted into coupling 23' with or without the attachment of a mouthpiece. In this operation it is obviously preferable to remove the dust bag. Upon switching on the current, air, is then drawn in through the opening 8 in bell 11, through the main barrel, through fan 14, past motor 13 and out through opening 28 to form the. ventilating or blowing current. Openings 8 and 28 may be said to be in the end walls of the casing.

.The opening 28- and the corresponding opening 8 in bell 11 are ma-de considerably larger than theopening 25. The purpose of this construction is to reduce the "friction and throttling losses. It the opening 8 in bell 11 were as'small as opening'25, a considerable resistance would result .forthe air flowing through this opening 8 when coupling 23 is inserted in opening 28 and the apparatus is used as a blower. Also, in normal evacuating .operatiomit is preferable to have a large'air outlet, in order to avoid resistance on the outlet side of the fan and accompanying loss in 'cured by means 0 efliciency.

The main barrel 10 and associated parts are mounted upon runners 60, of which there are two, one positioned on either side of the main 63 into which the-runner is adapted to set.- The runner is slipped into recesses63 and -se-* screw 64 which serves tomove lip 62 toward'the circular portion of the clamp which is attached to-the outer ring of the main barrel;

Runners are made oval in cross-section. This gives a. greater strength for a' given I cross-section of runner, provides better slidirfg qualities, gives a neat appearancelanrl,

furthermore, prevents rotation of the. run- 41ers. .":Recess'es; 63 can-be shaped so there is no possibility of the runner turning in the 'same and thus dislocation of the runners is prevented.

The runners extend from-the clamps outwardly' beyond themain barrel 10 and then return underneath the barrel slightly curved which makes the slidingand the turning "of the unit on a carpet easier; The outward curvature of the runners is of particular im- 'portance as regards the rear'end of the cleaner since the runner here serves as a protectipn for plug 49. p c Clamps 61 are-attached to the main barrel at points below the center line of the same.

By this means the runners are moved underneath the barrel and are not exposed. This facilitates packing and prevents damage to the runners.

In order to carry the main cleaner unit comprising the main barrel 10 and attached parts a strap 65 is provided. This strap consists of a central flat steel spring 66 which is surfrounded by lothor leather or other suitable material 67 see Figs. 4 and 5). The strap at one end surrounds a pin 68 which is mounted in a standard 70. Standard 70 is attached to the housing 12. Between the strap 65 and pin 68 is a metal member 71 (Fig. 7) of yieldable nature. Pin 68. has a central portion 72 over which metal member 71 fits and two end portions 73 ofgreater diameter than the central portion 7 2-and of greater diameter than the unsprung natural internal diameter of metal member 71. Portions 73 fit into opening's 74in standard 70. Pin 68 is provided with' bevelled portions 75 which normally are :adjacent the ends of metal member 71. .Pin'

68 in. normal position, extends somewhat outside the part of standard 70 in which it is. situated- The purpose of the arrangement means, a quick release of strap 65 from standard 70 so that the motor-fan housing 12 to which standard 70 is attached can be readily removed from the main barrel 10 to which the other end of strap 65 is secured.v By

pressing either end of pin 68 bevels 75 cause members 71 to spring outwardly and the end r just now described'is to allow, by very simple portions 73- slip inside members 71. Upon movement of pin 68 within standard 7 O the strap can be twisted and removed from standard 7 0. For this purpose the holes-in which 1 parts, 73 normally-rest are made large enough to aflord clearance for the passage of that portion 7 3which has been moved outwardly from standard 70, through the hole, in oblique position.

76. This pin is adapted to move longitudn nallv of the main barrel 10 by having. its ends resting in slots 77 in the sides of a forward standard 78. The spring. characteristic of -member '66t'ends always to hold strap 65 down a ainst or near to the main barrel with pm 76 in itsforward position. In'order to Theforward end of strap 65 encircles pin carry the cleaner unit, strap 65 lifted whereupon pin 76 slides to its rearmost position and the strap then has a convenient bowed position to form a handle. The strap is arranged sothat its center is substantially above the center of gravity of the cleaner unit comprising barrel and connected parts, whereby the cleaner unit may be carried in horizontal position.

From the above description it is readily seen that an ap aratus has been produced which is particu arly adapted to transportation in that there are no exposed arts which are liable to injury. In view of t e compactness of the arrangement, a great number of the main units can be packed in a'relatively small container and as has been seen, the re- .maining partstake up very little room.

, Obviousl difl'erent arrangements of parts 20. may be used and parts ma be modified without departing from the sp ere or scope of the invention. Furthermore it isob'vious that parts of the novel cleaner herein described may be used'without use of remainingparts without departing from the scope of the 'inadapted for both suction andblower action vention. The invention is not to be limited to the detailed description of the specification which has Been drawn with a view-of setting out one example completely to enable those so skilled in the art to readily make and use the invention, but is tobe limited merely by the state of the prior art and .the scope of the appended claims.

s one example of an. obvious change that 85 may be made, we wish to point out that the cou ling o enings, that is the air inlefi and gut eti, nee not be made coaxial with the main I're a Having thus described oufinvention, what 40 we claim is 1. A cleaner comprising a, casin of generally cIylindrical formation, a sha ed axia ly in said casing, a ian and a'motor mounted on said shaft, said casing bein formed with an air inlet at one end of sai casing and an air outlet at the other end of said casing, said inlet and utlet being screw-threaded with similar threads and a screw-threaded coupling fitting into either "50. opening, said couphng having a central pasv sageway of smaller diameter than the inlet or outlet for receiving the air hose ot a cleanmg device.

2. A cleaner for interchangeable suction or blower operation comprising-an elongatedcasing having end walls, a fan in saidcasing,

amotor to .drive said fan, an inlet opening in one end wall on one side of said fan, an outlet opening in the other end wall on the other side of said fan and means cooperating with either of said openings to alter the relative size of said openings for suction and blower operation respectively.

' 3. A device of the character set forth comprising, in combination, a casing, means withmountin said casing for roducing flow of air therethrou h, said cas being formed with an air i et and an an outlet oppositely dis way being of smooth surface and taperingoutyardly and means for passage of air comprising an air hose having an end tapered to am into aid central passageway.

4. A evice of the character set forth adapted for both suction and blower action comprising a casing having an air inlet openet opening and removable ing and an air out means fitting into either. opening, said means servin on insertion into the inlet opening to provi e a restricted inlet for suction operation and serving, on removal from the inlet opening and insertion into the outlet opening, to increase the air inlet opening and to pro-, vide a larger air inlet than air outlet.

5. A device of the character set forth being formed with anair in et at one en thereof and an air outlet at the other end thereof, said inlet and outlet being screwthreaded with. similar threads and a screwthreaded coupling fitting irgo either opening, said coupling being ma e of insulating material and hav ng a central passageway of smaller diameter than the inlet or outlet for receiving the air hose of a cleaning device.

7. A device of the character setforth adapted for. both suction and blower action com prising a casing having an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening and means cooperating with said air outlet 0 ening to decrease the air outlet opening durmg blower action.

8.A cleaner com rising a casing of generally cylindrical orniation, means within said casing" for producing flow of air there-' through, said casing bein formed with-an air inlet at one end of sai casing and an air outlet at the other end of said casing, a cou-- pling fitting into said outlet, said couiling having a central passageway of smaller iambein of smooth surface andtapering outeter than the outlet, said oentralpassageway war ly and means for passage. of air oomprising an air hose having an .end tapered to jam/into said central, passageway, said fixed our signatures.

coupling serving, on removal from said outlet to increase the size of the outlet.

9. A cleaner comprising a casing, means within said casing for producin flow of air therethrough, said casing being iormed with an air inlet and an air outlet, a coupling fitting into said outlet for connecting an air hose to said casing, said coupling having a central passageway of smaller diameter thanthe outlet and serving, on removal from said outlet, to increase the size of the outlet.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto af- AXEL OLOF ENG BERG FREDRIK CARLSTEDT. 

